->''"Now for better, or for worse, this is gonna change your life."''-->--'''[[WebVideo/JonTron Jon Jafari]]''', concerning this very film

''Birdemic'' is a 2008 American independent horror film written, directed, and produced by James Nguyen. The story is a WholePlotReference to Creator/AlfredHitchcock's ''Film/TheBirds'', and tells the story of a romantic couple whose relationship is interrupted by a sudden attack of killer birds, with a very overt GreenAesop.

Made with NoBudget, the film was shown at a couple festivals in 2008 and 2009, and then had a small theatrical run in 2010. It was released on DVD and UsefulNotes/BluRay in February 2011. The film was [[ColbertBump introduced to the wider world]] by [[Creator/TimAndEric Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim]] of ''Series/TimAndEricAwesomeShowGreatJob'', and has since become infamous for its SoBadItsGood nature.

A sequel, ''Film/Birdemic2TheResurrection'', has been released. In 3D! And yes, it's as terrible as the first movie.----

!!This film provides examples of:

* ActingUnnatural: An unintentional example - early in the movie, Alan Bagh, who plays Rod, was [[PerformanceAnxiety hyperconscious of the camera being on him]] and apparently couldn't walk naturally on camera and ends up looking like he's made of wood. Then he starts talking, and it becomes apparent that everything about him is wooden.* AllMenArePerverts: ** Rick thinks "a day without sex is a day wasted." (This character was reused from the other film by Nguyen, ''Julie and Jack''.)** Nathalie also mentions more than once that Rod is different from all the other guys she's dated, who were only into her for the sex. So apparently All Men Are Perverts, Except Rod. Even then, it's a BrokenAesop: Rod tries to invite himself in to Nathalie's apartment after their first date. Though, it might be argued that Rod's intents were virtuous, and Nathalie didn't want to tempt ''herself''.* AllThereInTheManual: WordOfGod is the only source of information on the birds' bizarre attributes.* AluminumChristmasTrees: In California, all cars can be converted to hybrid or full electric. However, it's '''expensive'''. So Rod's hybrid Ford Mustang was plausible (if missing the point of a muscle car like a Mustang).* ArtisticLicenseBiology: Did you know eagles could hover in midair like hummingbirds? According to WordOfGod "Global warming has caused them to be mutant, toxic, and flammable. That's why, when they take a kamikaze drive, they explode, and when they drop [[{{Squick}} bird fluid]] on some of the cast, they get burned." Genetics and evolution don't work that way outside of ''ComicBook/XMen''. There's also the spontaneous combustion. Even bombardier beetles don't explode when falling. They also [[StockSoundEffects sound like Stuka bombers]] when they dive, which is a fairly impressive biological feat.* AsYouKnow: At the end of their double date, Rod helpfully points out to the others that the movie they just finished watching was ''Film/AnInconvenientTruth.'' It's shoehorned into the dialogue so awkwardly that it's clear Nguyen was desperate to name drop it.* ATeamFiring: The heroes, including a supposed soldier, fire hundreds of rounds at birds and rarely hit any of them. Mind you, birds are tiny, fast targets, and they don't have any birdshot. Though the "fast" part is mitigated by their hovering.* AudienceParticipation: [[http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2011-03-07-Birdemic07_ST_N.htm Coat hangers and applause.]]* AuthorAppeal: Green Tech - to the point of giving Rod a hybrid Ford Mustang.** Also in Nathalie's photoshoot, she wears Vietnamese fashions like an ''ao dai'', and for the date Rodd and Nathalie go to a Vietnamese restaurant. Director/Writer/Producer Nguyen is from Vietnam.* AuthorAvatar: The protagonist of this (and those of the director's other two films) are tech salesmen. Guess what profession the director used to work in? The protagonist attracts a Victoria's Secret model by creepily stalking her.* AuthorFilibuster: In the middle of the birdemic, characters are introduced solely to deliver a speech about how global warming will kill us all, then leave never to return.* BigEater: Rod drives to a diner to have breakfast, then goes home and has a second breakfast before driving to work.** At each stop during the day of the attack, they get a large amount of water. At the first stop, they get a 24 pack of water bottles, then 2 1 gallon jugs of water at the next and then shortly afterwards stop to get water from a stream.* BookEnds: The film begins and ends on a shot of the Pacific Ocean.* BottomlessMagazines: Not once do you see Rod or Ramsey reloading their weapons, and they fire a truly psychotic number of rounds at the birds. Just dozens and dozens of bullets without cease. * BrokenAesop: The kids are supposed to look bratty for wanting a happy meal, rather than the food Rod had cooked, but likely would have gotten poisoned from the unprepared fish Rod had cooked. Considering it consisted of unprepared fish cooked with seaweed Nathalie randomly found on the beach and according to ''Birdemic 2'' it '''killed''' Susan (the little girl), finding a [=McDonald=]'s not being attacked by gif birds would be the better solution.* BusFullOfInnocents: A bus full of people are trapped by birds. The heroes "rescue" them.* CaptainObvious: The back of the DVD cover describes Nathalie as "a sexy lingerie model", [[SarcasmMode as opposed to all those plain, unattractive lingerie models we see so often on the Victoria's Secret catalog covers.]]* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: After the birds attack, Nathalie doesn't even mention her mother, much less the fact that she's probably dead. [[CosyCatastrophe Or perfectly fine and safe in her house.]]* ContrivedCoincidence: It turns out Rod's best friend and Nathalie's best friend are dating. This has absolutely nothing to do with how they meet. * {{Corpsing}}: Whitney Moore, the actress playing Nathalie, can't keep a straight face. ** She giggles when she talks to Dr. Jones, for whatever reason.** She also corpses when first getting the hangars in the infamous scene.** She is also laughing during the scene where she and Rod are dancing. One could guess that Rod was being funny if you ever saw his mouth move. Judging by her dancing, she clearly wasn't taking it seriously.* CoversAlwaysLie: "From writer/producer/director/visionary James Nguyen The Master Of The Romantic Thriller comes the story of a sexy lingerie model (Whitney Moore) and a successful software salesman (Alan Bagh) on a weekend getaway to a quaint Northern California town. But when the entire region is attacked by millions of homicidal birds,[[labelnote:Note]]Read two dozen badly done superimposed CGI birds, while ''real'' birds go about their business ignoring the human characters[[/labelnote]] their picturesque paradise becomes a winged hell on earth. Can mankind now survive the avian onslaught of BIRDEMIC? Hollywood legend Tippi Hedren of Hitchcock's ''Film/TheBirds'' co-stars[[labelnote:Note]]Meaning appears in ''archive footage''. From ''Nguyen's other film''. On a ''television screen''. For ''one scene''.[[/labelnote]] in the global cult movie phenomenon that Videogum says might end up being the greatest film of all time!"[[labelnote:Note]]They were being sarcastic.[[/labelnote]]* CrazyPrepared: Ramsey is either a survival nut or a domestic terrorist, considering how he just happened to have a bunch of guns in his van when the birds started attacking.* DeusExMachina: Rod, Nathalie and the children are [[RuleOfSymbolism saved by doves who chase off the eagles.]] Never mind the fact that eagles prey on doves.* DevelopingDoomedCharacters: It takes half the movie for the eponymous Birdemic to appear.* DullSurprise: ** Tree-hugger Tom Hill casually announces that [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment a mountain lion is approaching]]. He then strolls off screen in an equally unconcerned way.** Rod in many scenes, such as his muted reaction to Nathalie walking out of their hotel bathroom in her underwear, killer birds attacking him and his company, and selling his company for one billion dollars. About the only time he shows any sort of emotion is when he makes his million dollar sale near the beginning, where he shouts "Whoo-hoo!" while MilkingTheGiantCow. He's back to his normal bland self seconds later.** Ramsey doesn't seem terribly upset over Becky's death. But neither is the audience since the suspenseful music is playing for a good 15 seconds before the bird actually kills her.* EasyEvangelism: All it takes is one viewing of "Film/AnInconvenientTruth'' to convince Rick to be more eco-friendly. Rod and Nathalie listen to at least two speeches about the dangers of global warming and accept what they hear without question. * FanService: Nathalie in her underwear.-->'''[[Podcast/RiffTrax Kevin]]:''' ''(seeing Nathalie)'' What were people's complaints about this movie again?-->'''Bill:''' Well, that the acting, dialog, special effects, script, sound editing were all really, ''really'' terrible.-->'''Kevin:''' Yeah, it ''is'' pretty great, isn't it?!* FunnyBackgroundEvent: Unintentional examples. There are numerous points during the bird attack where people, cars, and actual birds can be seen simply going about their daily business in the background. During one scene, normal highway traffic is passing -- ''in both directions'' -- during a scene in which ''everyone was supposed to have evacuated the city''.* GaiasVengeance: The birds have become mutated suicide bombers due to global warming, apparently in the span of a day.* GenreShift: So abrupt you can hear the gearbox break!* GreenAesop: Characters speak highly of green technology before GaiasVengeance rears its head and various characters assert that global warming is killing the Earth. * HalfwayPlotSwitch: The first half of the movie is a romance, while the second half is a horror movie, mirroring ''Film/TheBirds''.* {{Hypocrite}}: Ramsey wishes people could "just give peace a chance" but he drives around in a van filled with assault rifles and pistols. * ImAManICantHelpIt: Rick thinks "a day without sex is a day wasted."* ImprovisedWeapon:** They use coat hangers to fight off the birds in the first scene with them. The coat hangers [[http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2011-03-07-Birdemic07_ST_N.htm weren't part]] of Nguyen's original script. Rod and Nathalie were supposed to grab a shower rod from a room to fend off attacking birds. There were no rods available at the Motel 6 where they were filming the scene, but there ''were'' coat hangers. The actors were aware of the {{Narm}}.--->'''Whitney Moore:''' There's not a lot you can do to prepare yourself for something like swatting away non-existent birds with coat hangers. At that point in the shooting, I was pretty much just along for the ride.** The actors also use a camera tripod, apparently a spare one from the production. * ImprobableAimingSkills: In spite of their usual inaccuracy, the heroes manage to shoot down a bunch of birds directly between them and innocent people. They hit nothing except birds. * IncestIsRelative: There's hints of this in the song "Hangin' Out With the Family," which chronicles a '''family gathering''' where "...the brothers can't wait to hook up" and "...grandma gets to prancin', to make sure, the fellas, don't try any glancin'!"* InformedAbility: All over the place.** Rod is supposed to be a great salesman, yet he's a marble-mouthed speaker. In an opening scene, it's unclear whether he gives the buyer a massive discount or points out that his service is much cheaper than the competition. Neither strategy takes any skill in salesmanship. ** Rod somehow invents cheap affordable solar power between scenes. He never displays the intelligence to pull off such a feat and can barely pronounce the term "solar panels."** The actress playing Nathalie is plenty attractive enough to play a model (in fact, Whitney Moore ''is'' a model, as is Alan Bagh (who plays Rod), but for someone who just landed a Victoria's Secret gig no one seems to have any confidence in the future of her career. (Judging by Mom, however, this may be [[JustifiedTrope justified]] in that she might lose her looks earlier than she'd like.)** According to Nathalie, Rod is intelligent and charming. We never see any evidence of this.** One would assume that Rod and Nathalie are both very wealthy, seeing as the former closes a massive contract and starts up an immediately successful alternative energy company, and the latter is a Victoria's Secret model. Yet neither of them show any signs at all of being wealthy, and when they go on vacation together, the best they can afford is a Motel 6.** Nathalie is supposedly pulling down gigs so big they gain the notice of Victoria's Secret, yet in the only scene we see of her actually modeling, she's doing a shoot at a 1 Hour Photo hut.* InsurmountableWaistHighFence: Dr Jones is guarding a bridge across two small ponds which would take only a few minutes to walk around.* LaserGuidedKarma: There is a stranger who forces Rod to give him a tank of gas. Right before he walks away (from his vehicle, keep in mind), an eagle slices his neck.* LeaveTheCameraRunning: The clumsy editing and slow pacing lead to a lot of this. There are numerous overly long establishing shots, and there are countless shots of people walking in and out of buildings, parking and pulling into traffic. The {{Podcast/Rifftrax}} of the film insists that parking and pulling out scenes are the heart and soul of the film.* LethalChef: Rod's bright idea to try and cook a fish without cleaning and gutting it first. [[SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome Apparently this leads to Susan getting sick and dying in-between the first and second movie.]]* MadeOfExplodium: ''The birds'' often explode on impact, which the creator has stated is a result of their mutations.* MeetCute: The movie doesn't even try one. Rod sees Nathalie at a restaurant, stares at her creepily, then follows her out like a stalker. He strikes up the world's most boring conversation with her, and somehow gets her phone number. * MoodWhiplash: The movie shifts abruptly from a poorly executed romance to a monster movie thriller at the halfway point. Besides the two brief encounters with CGI birds, no suspense is built up prior to the HalfwayPlotSwitch, unlike ''Film/TheBirds''* MyBelovedSmother: Nathalie's mom, who -- despite saying she is happy about her daughter's success as a model and her new job as the cover girl for the Victoria's Secret catalog -- is extremely vocal about her belief that Nathalie should give up modeling to go into real estate. * MyGirlIsNotASlut: Rod defends Nathalie to Rick, who implies she's a GoldDigger (or at least, that women are swayed by material wealth).* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Ramsey "rescues" several people who are hiding in a bus for safety by forcing them against their will into the open, where they're all immediately killed by a bunch of acid SPIT from the birds!* NoEnding: The movie does not so much end as coast to a stop.* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Rick and Mai are basically non-celebrity versions of Music/JohnLennon and Music/YokoOno with the SerialNumbersFiledOff. A white male/Asian female couple who strongly resemble the famous couple physically could be chalked up to coincidence, if not for the part where Mai spends most of the film wearing a shirt with the URL for [[http://imaginepeace.com/ Yoko's website]]. * NoisyNature: The "golden eagles" and "turkey vultures" make a constant, repeating seagull cry while attacking.* OffTheShelfFX: Leading to the film's infamous SpecialEffectFailure. * OnlySaneMan: The man who tries to rob Rob for gas is probably the only person who displays any hint of survival instinct in an apocalypse situation. [[LaserGuidedKarma Not that it helped him.]]* PlotArmor: Birds tend to explode (what?) on impact with things. If it's near Rod or Natalie, they simply die and lay completely still wherever they impacted, be it the ground or a tilted windshield.* PoliceAreUseless: The police apparently need to be called because they didnít notice the birds attacking buildings and exploding.* ProductPlacement:** Cameron's Pub (where the bar date with Rod and Nathalie took place) has actually received a small popularity boost from the film, and has even held a Birdemic Fest with James Nguyen and "Just Hanging Out" singer Damien Carter.** Also inverted with many brand logos being blurred out.** When we first see Mai, the camera hovers over a hilariously conspicuous poster for www.imaginepeace.com she seems to have put up in her hotel room. Later, the only outfit she is seen wearing is identical to the poster.* ReactionShot: Neither movie apparently trusts the audience to believe that a character is dead when they've clearly been killed by a bird. In both movies, each time anyone is killed by a bird, it always cuts to a reaction shot of their dead body, as if to confirm for the viewer each and every time that yes, this character is now dead.* RecklessGunUsage:** Rod decides to introduce Nathalie and the kids to Tom by pointing his pistol at them while he names them.** Rod also points his gun in the general direction of the young girl when trying to coax her out from under a car.** Nathalie also points her gun at Rod when she runs up to the car to tell him and Ramsey [[spoiler:that Becky is dead]]. ** Rod and Ramsey fire wildly at a bus where survivors have decided to take refuge. Of course, [[TooDumbToLive said survivors don't even try to get out of the line of fire by ducking or something]].* RightThroughHisPants: Apparently how Natalie has sex, given how she wakes up in the hotel. Credit must be given to Rod, though, who apparently had sex wearing a tanktop, slacks, ''and a belt''.* RuleOfCool: The hawks make divebomber sounds when attacking buildings. They also cause the buildings to explode.* SanitySlippage: Ramsey suffers one, and "rescues" some people best left unrescued. And the audience.* ShoutOut: Several.** At one point, the characters go out on a double date to see ''Film/AnInconvenientTruth'' - reportedly one of James Nguyen's favorite movies of all time.** There's also several references to another one of Nguyen's favorite films, ''Film/TheBirds''.*** Both movies start out as romances, then change into horror films at the halfway mark.*** Both films have a dead shopkeeper with their eyes pecked out.*** The male lead is named in honor of Rod Taylor, the actor who played the romantic lead in ''Film/TheBirds''. Nathalie's name could also be a reference to the actress who played the female lead of that movie - Nathalie "Tippi" Hedren.*** Both films have an environmentalism theme, though Hitchcock's ecological message was subtler by far. Hitchcock had the birds attacking whenever smoke was visible in the background. Nguyen just has random fires and smoke clouds show up.*** A shot of Tippi Hedren interacting with birds is visible for a moment on a television.* SpaceWhaleAesop: If you contribute to global warming, the polar ice caps will melt, pine beetles will breed out of control, and ''angry, exploding animated .GIF birds will attack you.''* StalkingIsLove: Most models aren't charmed by ''tech salesmen'' following them around. Granted, Bagh's bad acting makes him seem creepier than he might be, but his behavior is still odd. And during their first conversation, she seems to be humoring him while trying to get away, right up until the point that she hands him her business card.* StockSoundEffects: Bicycle bells are bizarrely used as the sound effect for phones, and birds sound like UsefulNotes/WorldWarII Ju 87 Stuka dive bombers.* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: Unintentional example. Becky gets attacked by a bird. Nathalie empties her gun into the bird sitting ''on Becky's face'', then runs back to the car screaming "She's dead! I didn't do anything!"* TechnicalPacifist: Ramsey says he left the military because he was tired of all of the killing. Yet he keeps a loaded M4 carbine in his van, which is also an unlawful firearm in California.* TheUnintelligible: ** Rod gets quite mush-mouthed at times, especially when he's talking about his great inventions, slrpnls.** The gas station attendant charged $100 for a gallon of gasoline. The fact that Rod understood what he said (and responded in English) is the only proof we have that the man was speaking English.* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Nathalie's mother is featured heavily, but once the birds attacked is never mentioned or heard of again. She's revealed to be alright in the sequel, but then disappears again before the next bird attack.* YouNoTakeCandle: Ramsay introduces his girlfriend by pointing to her and saying "girlfriend Becky."----